Baseball: Orix ace Yamamoto makes history in another dominant season

Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto led the Pacific League in wins, ERA, strikeouts and win percentage for the third year in a row, becoming the first player in Japanese professional baseball history to achieve the feat upon Tuesday’s conclusion of the regular season.

The 25-year-old right-hander propelled the reigning Japan Series champions to their third consecutive PL pennant after going 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA. He had 169 strikeouts and registered a .727 win percentage.

After making a slight tweak to his pitching mechanics, Yamamoto increased his velocity and allowed just two home runs, a c...